Page 11 of The Consequence of Loving Me

My now-bare toes touch the tips of his tennis shoes and I look him right in the eye as I slowly say, “Just please don’t get on my bed. M’kay?” I slowly pull a piece of lint off his T-shirt, my eyelashes batting at him as my lips pull into a smile.

“Got it,” Aspen says under his breath at the same time he examines my body.

“Great, now can someone help me get the rest of my things?” I ask.

Maverick gives Selma a peck on the cheek before he retreats out of my bedroom door. Aspen follows close on his heels, but he takes a moment to look over his shoulder and wink at me before he disappears.

“Oh god,” Selma groans, covering her face with her hand. “Lily is going to be pissed.”

Part of me wants to ask her what she’s talking about, but the bigger part of me doesn’t care. Because when I look around my new room, I’m just happy to be away from Beaufort, South Carolina—where my parents live, and where my past still haunts me. Even though I’m definitely not fully separated from living off Mommy and Daddy, I’m a hell of a lot more independent than I was three months ago when I finally had the courage to leave.

Am I used to living in places three times nicer than this?

Yes.

But is this exactly where I feel like I need to be?

Also yes.

My past can’t find me here—that I’m sure of.

“So, when do you want to fully move in?” Selma asks, bringing my attention back to her.

The more I look at her, the more I realize how beautiful she is. All of her features are soft, sincerity embedded in all of them. She wears her coppery brown hair short, so short it barely touches her shoulders. Her eyes are almond-shaped and lift at the corners. Though I’m probably most envious of her eyebrows. Where I have thinner, more arched eyebrows, hers are thick—every girl’s eyebrow wet dream.

Bitch.

“Tomorrow?” I offer.

6

Maverick

I stare at the droplet of condensation that slides down my beer. It slowly descends over the red label, slithers down the brown bottle, and disappears as it hits the old wooden tabletop of our booth.

“I can’t believe we’ll be gone for Thanksgiving,” Lily rants from across the booth, taking a long pull of her own beer.

My twin sister Lily, Selma, and I sit at Lenny’s. It’s been a few hours since we showed Veronica the new place, and because we all have the night off, we met here for a few beers. Plus, it’s been a few days since I’ve seen my sister, which I know drives her nuts. So here I am, being brother of the year.

“I know. I was looking forward to seeing your parents,” Selma responds next to me, fumbling with the wrapper of her straw. She folds it over and over again.

“Oh, you’ll still see them,” Lily continues, resting her head on her hand and leaning closer to the two of us.

It’s a Thursday night at Lenny’s, which means it’s packed with both underage and of age college students—it being Thirsty Thursday and all. The verdict is still out if this place will wind up getting shut down by the health inspector or the cops, but it’s still one of my favorite places. It’s familiar, an old hangout we’ve been coming to ever since we were all bright-eyed and eighteen and would do anything for a cheap beer we could get our hands on.

The walls of Lenny’s are completely covered in dollar bills. Some of them are signed, or have pictures drawn on them. It’s a typical dive bar. Old neon signs illuminate the place. Every table is covered in people’s artwork and names.

“Did you hear that, Mav?” Lily questions, kicking me under the table.

“Hmm?” I ask, bringing my attention back to her. My hand absentmindedly finds Selma’s leg next to mine, and I rest it against her thigh.

“Mom and Dad are coming to watch our tournament in Missouri over Thanksgiving holiday. They’re staying in the same hotel as we are. The team is doing some fancy dinner for Thanksgiving. Which means you’ll be all alone here. Unless you can come, too?”

Selma leans in closer to me, using her actions to show me she would also like me to be there to watch their volleyball tournament. Both of them play on the team, and they have a great chance of going to state this year. I wish I could be there to watch them.

“You know I can’t,” I begin, taking a moment to take a long sip of my beer. “I finally have the opportunity to shadow Keith Yang, and I can’t let that opportunity go to waste.” Keith Yang is not only my idol, he’s one of the best criminal defense lawyers in our state. He’s known to do pro bono cases all the time. I want to help people who’ve been wrongfully convicted of crimes and working with him is my first step in doing so. I hope to work at his firm when I complete law school. This is my chance at an in with him.

“Chug! Chug! Chug!” is chanted from across the bar. A group of frat guys cheer on one of their brothers as he chugs Lenny’s famous pitcher—a concoction pertaining all the different beers that Lenny’s serves. Everyone in our group has done the challenge at least once. Foam spills out from the sides of the guy’s mouth as he chugs, but after a while he sucks it all down.

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